BodyForTheAges.org Blog

The holiday season proves to be a challenging chapter of the year.  With over booked schedules, non-stop holiday parties, and pastries at every turn, it’s no wonder people are stressed out and gaining weight!

According to a study published in the US National Library of Medicine, the average weight gained during the holiday season by Americans is 1lb.  Not so bad. However, it is a pound that you will never loose!  After thirty five years of indulging in the holiday junk food-a-thon, it’s no wonder the mid-section tends to grow!  A second study published a year later showed that obese people gain on average 5lbs!  So how do we enjoy the festivities and keep the weight down?

According to an article posted on WebMD, the food choices we make are connected to our emotional state.  Our emotional state has a huge influence on what kind of food we decide to eat and how much.  If a person is exercising daily and feeling strong, he/she is less likely to over eat. Regular exercise keeps the stress down and the weight off!

Review additional suggestions at WebMD about keeping healthy during the holiday seasons here: WebMD

Balance is the key to a healthy lifestyle and healthy eating habits.  At Body for the Ages, we believe in our online Wellness Program which delivers the support and encouragement you need in order to create a healthy balance in your life!  The online Wellness Program offers an individually tailored plan to each unique person.  Pax Beale, founder of Body for the Ages, believes that with proper nutrition, exercise and supplementation, each person has the potential to live their genetic lifespan!

To read more about the Body for the Ages online Wellness program, go to: www.bodyfortheages.org.

Be Well!!

Donnamarie Alesia

Body For the Ages Blogger

After a stressful day, most of us just want to relax, and getting exercise may be the last thing on our list of priorities. However, research is increasingly proving that exercise is just what we need to significantly decrease daily stress and anxiety.

From a Mayo Clinic staff study, “Exercise helps prevent and improve a number of health problems, including high blood pressure, diabetes and arthritis. Research on anxiety, depression and exercise shows that the psychological and physical benefits of exercise can also help reduce anxiety and improve mood.”

How does it work? In a variety of ways:

Chemical: Exercise releases “feel good” chemicals in your brain. You may have heard of the “runner’s high”. Well, it’s not just a ploy to get you to exercise! Physical activity releases endorphins, which deliver a mood lift to your body and mind.

Healthy Choices: Beyond chemical stimulation, exercise most often makes you feel good about your choices. When you’re confident that you’re improving your health, you’ll increase your overall confidence.

Distraction: Exercise can be an opportunity to step away from the worries of the day, and spend time by yourself, focusing on your body, and letting stress take a back seat for a while. That’s a daily prescription we could all use!

Read more of what the Mayo Clinic has to say regarding exercise and anxiety here:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/depression-and-exercise/MH00043

And go here to read about how the Body For The Ages Online Wellness Program can deliver an exercise, health, and wellness program tailored to your specific needs:

www.BodyForTheAgesNonprofit.org

-Melissa Chandler, Body For The Ages Blogger

Turning Back the Clock

If you’ve reached middle age and your health habits are less than desirable, don’t give up hope.  Making a change at this stage of life will yield significant results, and set you on your way to an improved quality of life now, and in your senior years.

Dr. Dana King, a University of South Carolina professor of medicine, is part of a research team whose findings indicate that changing lifelong unhealthy habits in middle age may yield you a longer life.

“It’s not too late,” says Dr. King.  “If you make [healthy] changes now, it has a tremendous impact.”

Dr. King and his team colleagues looked at four healthy habits in over 16,000 people between 45 and 64 years of age.  Here are the categories they evaluated: eating five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day, 2.5 hours or more of exercise per week, a healthy weight level, and not smoking.

Dr. King’s research team found that the people who adhered to the four healthy habits were “40 percent less likely to die and 35 percent less likely to suffer heart problems than those who did not adopt the beneficial habits.”

Read more about the findings here: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Healthday/story?id=5314059&page=1

Body For The Ages is committed to helping you make the health changes necessary for you to enjoy a vastly improved quality of life for years to come. 

By becoming a Body For The Ages Member, and participating in the Body For The Ages Online Wellness Program, you’ll be assigned your own personal coach via the web.  Your personal coach will create a wellness program tailored to your specific needs, and walk you through workouts, nutrition, supplements, and most of all, be a knowledgeable and dependable motivating force, as you reclaim your health.

Visit http://www.bodyfortheages.org/, for details on our Wellness Program, and how to become a Team Body For The Ages Member.  Join now.  Body For The Ages is here to help you turn back the clock.

Have you been meaning to drop those extra pounds?

Whatever your reason, be it aesthetics, athleticism, or heart health, health problem prevention, there’s never been a better time to do it than now.

According to a National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, two thirds of adults in the United States are overweight, and about one third are obese. http://win.niddk.nih.gov/statistics/

Extra weight plays a contributing factor in numerous health problems.  A report recently released from our nation’s capital states that more than 100,000 cases of cancer each year are caused by excess body fat.  Read more here: http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/11/05/obesity.cancer.link/index.html

Weight Loss is not easy, and it takes commitment.  But we all know that commitment will pay off, when we see that we’re increasing our extra energy and self-esteem, along with decreasing our health concerns.

Your time is valuable, and the Body For The Ages Online Wellness Program will show you how to make it count, with fun workouts, wellness tips and anti-aging tips, valuable advice from our very own Panel of Experts, and an online personal trainer available for guidance 365 days a year.

Are you ready to commit to your health and happiness?  It’s the best investment you’ll ever make.

Go to www.BodyForTheAgesNonprofit.org, get your four free gifts, and become part of the Body For The Ages Team.

Are you self-conscious about going to the gym? 

Check out this quote from the Apria Healthcare website:

“In today’s weight room, you’re as likely to see a grandmother working her glutes as a quarterback working his quads, now that resistance exercise is recognized as vital to building strong muscles and bones.” 

Read more here: http://www.apria.com/channels/1,2748,94-193,00.html

Pax’s Prescription Method of Training will show you how weight-resistance training will not only strengthen your muscles, but your heart as well. 

Pax didn’t just treat his heart disease – he reversed it.  Now his passion is to show others how to do the same.  Why?  Because it’s completely unnecessary that 50% of people die from Heart Disease or heart related illnesses.  Body For The Ages seeks to eliminate this insidious statistic. 

Read Pax’s story at www.BodyForTheAges.com.  He’s living proof that you can take control of your health, beat heart risks, and have fun in the process.

Until Next Time,

A recent article in the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/12/health/12heart.html?bl&ex=1227070800&en=0fd3c2f76367617a&ei=5087%0A) got me thinking.  We target the 40-60 crowd here at Body for the Ages.  Are we focusing on the wrong group?  Don’t children need the help more?

The thing is, we teach our children through our example.  If we let it be OK for us to be dangerously overweight, we demonstrate to our children that it’s OK for them too.  If we constantly reach for the cookie over the celery, we tell our children it is OK for them too.  If we spend every afternoon on the couch, we tell our children that’s OK for them too.

If we die early from heart disease, is that one lesson enough to undo all the others?  Maybe.  But why bet a child’s life on it?

The great thing about our example is that it works in all directions.  If we turn around ourselves, we show our kids that they can do.  That’s one of the great things about Pax, he shows that you can come back from nearly being dead to become National Bodybuilding Champion.  It’s one of the great things about the President-Elect, he shows that any child can grow up to be president.

And that’s what you got to be for your kids.  You got to be the example that anybody can get fit.  That anybody can achieve the body of their dreams, and reduce their heart risks in the process.

And we will help you do it.  Join us here.

I used to think that I was quite fit, afterall I am a great gardener, played tennis for 40 years and could beat just about anybdy at the Club, in doubles!  Also I used to snack on doughnuts and other bad foods just to feel better, and the pounds crept on.  But now, after becoming a member of Body For The Ages and having  the awesome inspiration Pax Beale and using his method of  Weight Resistance Training I no longer snack mindlessly on ‘comfort’ foods and really know now what great fitness and real weight loss feel like.  It feels great!  I workout regularly, eat well and have taken off 26 lbs.  Since this is the only body  I am going to have I have decided to love it and the fact my friends tell me how great I look helps.

So living well is the best revenge at any age and I am 82.  I have always had a gym to work out in , but now.  I have the most important  ingredient  -  Motivation!  Make the commitment!!

I heard a great line the other day- “Food is not an activity.”

I thought that was some great advice on how to keep from over eating.  I know that I sometimes do eat just because I’m bored during comericals.

I also try to limit my supply of junk food in my house.  I find if there are chips, I will eat chips until I run out or get full.  If there are cookies, I will eat cookies until I run out or get full.  I fall I have is salad, I will eat salad.  And I can only eat so much salad.

Do you have some tips for eating better?  Please share in the comments section.

Here’s some tips from Pax:

Establish “No-Eat Zones”: This teaches discipline which is a key component of success. Not trying yields tragedy, and effort yields triumph.

Do the “Savor the Flavor” Test: Learn the art of eating slower. Practice makes perfect.

Break One Habit at a Time: You can’t stop overeating, smoking, and drinking all at once. Your initial goal is to adopt the Body for the Ages Nutrition System of eating, the initial goal is not to weight loss.

Table Eating: Only eat at the table. (Never standing, or in a car.)

Don’t Fear Failure: Everybody slips off every course they commit to… sometimes. That’s not failure. You are human. Slipping off course and then quitting - that’s failure.

Make it Fun!: Maintain a positive frame of mind. You’re on your way to building the body of your dreams!

Want to learn more?  Join our Online Wellness Program for help with nutrition, exercise, and overall wellness.  Learn how to live to your maximum genetic lifespan!

Click here.

I stepped on the scale yesterday.

I had been working hard the last week.  I had been eating right.  I had worked out everyday.  Worn myself out lifting weights.  Sleeping 9 hours a day.  Eating salad for dinner.  The whole bit.

And here I was looking at the fruits of my labor: I had gained a pound.

I said a less appropriate version of “Gosh darn it.”

I started getting dressed again, cursing myself and my efforts.  I pulled on my be jeans and tightened my belt.  That’s when I realized that I had reached a tighter belt loop.

Great reminder:  one’s fitness is not just about the scale, it’s about how feel, and how you look, and your waist line.

Let’s examine a core element of the Total Commitment Motivational, Wellness Philosophy concept.

The Total Commitment Motivational, Wellness Philosophy involves effort.  Effort and motivation are not as difficult to come by as most would expect.  You just have to understand how to get the maximum effort and motivation out of yourself and you are on your way.

Nature does not afford us the luxury of inactivity; to live is a series of self-sustaining actions, so inactivity spells failure and death.  Life can be maintained by meeting the challenges of existence through never-ending effort. If you want to advance the art of wellness, these principles are pivotal.

Allow me to share a true story with you involving something that seems innocuous, but shaped my life.  I hope the message can shape your life as well.

I was sort of a flop in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, and not much of a student.  Then I won the shotput championship after putting forth my first Total Commitment…a three year effort to be the best I could be.

I remember the day I won the championship.  I had won most every competition that year, so I was the favorite.  Yet I was dead last in the championship meet due to a seriously injured hand and wrist.  I had the fingers taped to hold the right hand rigid so it would not hurt.  However, it hindered my ability.  On the last throw I figured the season was over and I had nothing to lose, so I removed all the tape.  The hand and fingers had to remain in a specific plane of motion not to have excruciating pain.  I gave it my all on that last throw.  As I unloaded with all my effort, the iron ball miraculously rolled from the palm of my hand up to the end of my fingertips, where the shotput flipped forward in a perfect arc.

As soon as the shotput left my fingers, I knew I had won.  I was in the groove.  The entire movement just flowed effortlessly.  The art of the shotput is how it explodes off the end of your fingertips, so the sport is more sophisticated than it appears to be.  Previously without tape I had always lost control, and pain followed.  I guess the moral of the story is that the good ones always seem effortless, be it putting the shot, hitting a golf ball or whatever.  I found out right there that the Total Commitment Motivational, Wellness Philosophy in everything you do in life was the best tonic for psychological fulfillment!

Subsequently my grades improved.  I enjoyed the “chase” in life in both athletics and business, whether I won or lost.  I decided it was important to aim my effort towards victory, at the risk of experiencing defeat. I had friends who claimed they periodically got depressed or did not try for fear of losing, but once I experienced the Total Commitment Motivational, Wellness Philosophy, I never became depressed or had the fear of losing.  My shot put experience, combining Total Commitment over three years of effort, seemed to be a vital point in my life.

Confront your “shotput,” whatever it is.  Put forth Total Commitment, and win or lose, you are on your way to rejuvenating your psyche into a positive direction.